Book Review: Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This series of short stories revolves around life in a small town. There is no single viewpoint (some stories are told from Olive Kitteridge's point of view, some told by other residents) ... there is no set time frame (some take place when Olive is an old woman, some while she is still teaching junior high) ... and there is no central action (each story stands on its own and tells a different tale). The only unifying thing is the setting (Crosby, Maine) and Olive Kitteridge, who makes an appearance (or at least gets a mention) in each story.

Despite all this, it works. I enjoyed the book and felt that author Strout had at times really captured the essence of everyday human life with all its struggles. Life is messy and confusing (even when it's going well), and she didn't shrink away from that. She just wrote about it simply and honestly.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 12/22/07) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Early reviewer copies

I got notified by LibraryThing that I will be getting 2 books through their Early Reviewers program. I got one a few months ago, but I lucked out to get 2 in this round.

• There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

The requests for each book far outnumber the available copies, so many people go empty-handed each month. I'm not sure what I did to be so fortunate, but I'm looking forward to reading (and reviewing) them both.

Book Review: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
As performed by Jonathan Winters

This audio adaptation of A Christmas Carol was done for NPR, I believe. (The cover blurb said that this version is a special performance edition created by Dickens himself.) It's well done, and I enjoyed listening to it. I admit I got distracted, though, whenever I noticed that the story line skipped over something.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 12/4/07)

Quirky Blogs

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite "quirky" blogs. I still marvel at the myriad of topics that people find to blog about!

Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians ... http://menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/... The name says it all, I think.

Passive Aggressive Notes ... http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/ ... Be careful about leaving notes for people who annoy you. They may get posted online!

Post Secret ... http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ ... Read the secrets that people share via anonymous postcards.